Assessing the Common Core State Standards in Reading With The Sports Network 2

Classroom, Inc. (CI) developed and piloted an 8th grade learning game targeting the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in Reading. CI built on 20 years experience using workplace simulations to teach literacy, and developed The Sports Network 2 (TSN-2), leveraging advances in gaming and assessment. TSN-2 puts students in the role of managing director of a sports media company, giving them reading and workplace problems to solve. Piloted in 2012 with over 400 New York City and Chicago students and their teachers, teachers agreed that the game was strongly connected to the CCSS, and students reported being engaged and learning from it. Assessments on the CCSS from within the game showed modest student performance; scores were strongly correlated with scores from a standardized reading test, the Measures of Academic Progress. This research provides early validation for an approach within a game to assess reading skills based on CCSS.